FOUNDATION RECOGNIZES THOSE WHO PRESERVE SPA CITY
SARATOGA SPRINGS, N.Y. » May was National Preservation Month, and this year it coincides with the 40th anniversary of the Saratoga Springs Preservation Foundation, established in 1977.
As part of that celebration, the Saratoga Springs Preservation Foundation has identified projects that reflect a commitment to preserving the historic resources of Saratoga Springs at the Annual Preservation Recognition Awards. Held on Tuesday, May 30, at the Saratoga Springs Public Library, this is one of my favorite events because it provides an opportunity to thank those who have invested their time, effort and resources into projects that help keep Saratoga Springs unique. I feel the best part of this event is the owner’s surprise when notified by the Foundation of their Preservation Recognition Award. They often were not expecting this acknowledgement, but did the work simply for the love and passion of their historic building. Mayor Joanne Yepsen presented the awards to the recipients after the foundation’s annual meeting.
Attending the event was Sperry’s restaurant owner and former Mayor Scott Johnson, who described how he was awoken at 3 o’clock in the morning of Thanksgiving Day, Nov. 24, by a call informing him of the fire at 26 Caroline St. immediately adjacent to his restaurant. He quickly arrived at the site and stayed until mid-afternoon being in constant contact with the Saratoga Springs Fire Department regarding the fire. The other adjacent building owner, Chelsea Hoopes Silver, one of the owners of 24 Caroline St., described a photo taken by Brendan Dillon, co-owner of Hamlet & Ghost, of how charred the fire chief’s hat was afterwards. She shared her deepest gratitude for the fire department’s bravery and hard work not only in fighting the fire but also protecting the neighboring structures from additional damage. In total, there were almost 100 firefighters from area departments on the scene during this event. Thankfully due to the efforts of the Saratoga Springs Fire Department, there was no loss of life, the fire did not spread, and the damage was minimized to the two adjacent buildings. Tuesday evening at the Preservation Recognition Awards, the Saratoga Springs Fire Department was honored with an Outstanding Service Award for their efforts to contain and extinguish the fire.
In addition to recognizing the fire department for their service
to the community, the foundation celebrated building owners for being good stewards of their historic properties. Porches serve as important living spaces and are often vital to the social life of Saratoga Springs, providing opportunities to see and interact with neighbors. The foundation was pleased to give several Porch Restoration Awards this year. The grand porch at 740 North Broadway, owned by Charlie and Marie Montano, was magnificently restored with no sparing of original materials or details. The design was based entirely on a historic photograph of this stately residence built by Frank H. Hathorn in 1886. The work was completed by Charles Robbins, who made the pieces of the porch, and Wayne Stutzman, who installed those pieces. The porch restoration at 136 Circular Street was also recognized for restoring a porch. h. The full-width front porch had been removed between 1954 and 1964, replaced with a one bay entrance porch. Owners Steven Groseclose and Jael Polnac, along with Brett Balzer of Balzer + Tuck Architecture, Bob West of Old Saratoga Restorations, and Tim Wade, used a historic photograph to recreate the wrap-around porch. Dave and Shannon Hungerford were recognized as well for the restoration of their 1899 Queen Anne front porch at 82 Court St.. At the event the Hungerford thanked contractors, Chris Bennett and Jeff Roberts, for their work on the project.
Several owners made significant investments in the exteriors of their buildings, and it is no surprise that the Mark and Keirsa Chappell at 124 Grand Ave. would receive an Exterior Rehabilitation Award. Their home had been listed on the Foundation’s Ten to Save list but was removed from the list because of the previous owner’s efforts. However, the home still needed extensive work. The owners took on the large exterior project which included extensive work rehabbing the structure including restoring the six-over-six windows on the front façade, replacing the roof, adding new cedar siding, as well as other projects. Chris Martell of 40 Franklin Street received an Exterior Rehabilitated Award, which included installing six-over-six windows, which were original to the design of the circa 1850 Greek Revival style residence. This home had its original windows at some point replaced with one-over-one windows. Since the replacement windows were failing and needed to be replaced – a lesson to those thinking about replacing your original old growth windows rather than repairing and preserving - the homeowner decided that the new windows should be in-keeping with the original design of the home. A third Exterior Rehabilitation Award went to Robert and Diane Noble of 6 Mitchell Street for the work they performed on the exterior of their circa 1875 home.
Three new construction projects were honored with New Contextual Design Awards: the new garage at 718 North Broadway was constructed with the assistance of Viktor Solarik of VKS Architects and Bob West of Old Saratoga Restorations. The original carriage house was subdivided from the property to the current owners purchasing the house and did not have a garage. Robert and Tina Ashton of 149 Grand Ave., a 2016 Exterior Rehabilitation Award winner, received a New Contextual Design Award for their new garage which was influenced by the
design of their circa 1875 home. The new garage at 55 Bryan Street was designed for Leland and Mary Loose by architect Robert Flansburg, who also designed the garage at 149 Grand Ave., and Bob West of Old Saratoga Restorations constructed the new building.
While it may go unnoticed by many, the removal of the aluminum siding and the restoration of the wood clapboard siding at 162 Clinton St. did not go unnoticed by the Foundation and received an Exterior Siding Initiative Award. Considering their property is not located in a historic district the efforts of Charles and Peggy Hawkins are a testament to their dedication and stewardship of their historic home.
Nor did the project for restoring the slate roof at the circa 1865 Second Empire residence at 128 Circular St. go unnoticed. The foundation recognized owner Jeffrey Dumont with a Slate Roof Restoration Award. The mansard roof is a major character defining feature of this architecture style. The foundation noted that although restoring a slate work can take more effort initially slate roofs can withstand the test of time, generally lasting for close to 100 years, and since many homes in Saratoga Springs are reaching that 100 year mark we hope that the city does not lose these unique slate roofs.
A Landscape Restoration Award was given to the Friends of Saratoga Spa State Park for the complex three-year trail restoration project that included the new trail bridge, wellhead restoration, a new granite fountain that recreates the original feature, tree trimming and trail regrading. The only way to experience the Ferndell Trail is by taking a walk through this very beautiful part of the National Historic Landmark Saratoga Spa State Park. This project showed the importance of public-private partnership especially with the donation of three years of volunteer labor by the Friends of Saratoga Spa State Park. Upon accepting the award, the members of the group thanked the staff at the Spa State Park for their contributions to the project. Keep up the all the great work! The Foundation is already looking forward to recognizing the next completed project.
Of top priority in the capital improvement plan for the New York Racing Association (NYRA) was improving the living conditions for the track workers at Saratoga Race Course. Part of this plan included renovating 21 dorms on Oklahoma Track side of property. Upgrades were made to the bathroom, lockers, roofing, electrical, plumbing, and HVAC as well as the exteriors were changed to be more in keeping with the historic appearance of the track. NYRA worked with Matt Hurff, of Frost Hurff Architects, on the redesign. The foundation recognized NYRA with a New Contextual Design Award, which was accepted by Molly Brindle, director of strategic partnerships with NYRA, and thanked the foundation for the award and stated that these buildings are seasonable, but no less important.
The last award for the evening was also presented to NYRA who performed a tree inventory and condition report which determined that 250 dead or deteriorated trees needed to be removed. NYRA knows the importance of trees in the bucolic landscape of the historic track and in turn made a significant investment by planting over 850 new trees. For this NYRA was presented with a Landscape Preservation Award.
I hope you will join me and the Foundation in congratulating and thanking all of this year’s Preservation Recognition Award winners for their investment in preserving our unique architectural and landscape heritage and quality of life in Saratoga Springs.
Samantha Bosshart is the executive director of the Saratoga Springs Preservation Foundation. Founded in 1977, the Saratoga Springs Preservation Foundation is a not-for-profit organization that promotes preservation and enhancement of the architectural, cultural and landscaped heritage of Saratoga Springs. For more information, log on to www. saratogapreservation.org.